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Relations with Tributary States and Frontier Affairs |
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Conduct of Nagas: riot at Kekrima; helpful reaction to unrest in Manipur; coolies |
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31. With the exception of one serious riot at the Angami village of Kekrima, in which one man was killed and several wounded, the conduct of the people of the Naga Hills district during the year has been excellent. Thefts and cases of house-breaking decreased during the year, a result which is doubtless due to the entertainment throughout the year of a body of punitive police at the expense of Kohima and the neighbouring villages. These punitive police have been withdrawn since the 1st April, but it is as yet too early to say what the effect of their withdrawal will be. |
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The disposition of the Nagas and especially of the Angamis was well shown by their conduct at the end of March on the occasion of the recent outbreak in Manipur. It might have been thought that the defeat by the Manipuris of so large a body of our troops would have unsettled the Nagas of this district and especially the Angamis. This was, however, by no means the case. From the first the men of the larger and more influential villages showed a disposition to help us in every possible way. The Khonoma and Mozema men threw out scouts in the Kenoma (Paplongmai) direction and volunteered their services to fight if only they were provided with guns. Khonoma in addition sent spies into Manipur who brought back information of considerable value. Kohima too offered their services and the Deputy-Commissioner might have had with him on the occasion of the taking of Mao an auxiliary band of many hundreds of Angamis had he been disposed to take them with him. |
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The chief service, however, which they rendered to Government was after the close of the year when they gave about 1,000 coolies to transport the baggage of the Kohima column to Manipur. |
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The Lhotas too have contributed about 3,000 coolies for the transport of Government stores from Nichuguard to Kohima since the 1st April 1891. |
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The Aos also, although their country was for a short time denuded of more than half the ordinary police force stationed there, showed no signs of turbulence. The result of the withdrawal of police, though for only a week, was to cause a certain amount of uneasiness in the Sibsagar district, so that late in April 1891, a party of 30 men of Changki village who had been sent down to bring up from Moriani rations for the Mokokchang guard, were mistaken for the advanced party of an invading army of Nagas, and 50 of the 36th Sikhs were moved from Golaghat to Moriani to protect the Sibsagar frontier at this point. Such scares as these are to be regretted, as they only serve to render the Nagas more insolent when they visit the plains. |
